Last week the House of Representatives voted to condemn sexual violence by Hamas since the October7 attack on Tel Aviv. The resolution said nothing of the sexual violence committed by Israel against Palestinians.
The United Nations is concerned about this however.
The Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights published a statement to express alarm over the treatment of Palestinian women and girls while detained by Israeli forces. The UN says that these girls have been “arbitrarily executed… denied menstruation pads, food and medicine, and severely beaten.” They also say that they have been “subjected to multiple forms of sexual assault, such as being stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers. At least two female Palestinian detainees were reportedly raped while others were reportedly threatened with rape and sexual violence.”
When the House voted to condemn the violence perpetuated by Hamas, they said nothing of these allegations. Perhaps because this is not new. The IDF has been capturing Palestinians, holding them without trial and sexually abusing them for decades.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhof said that he was given a “graphic private briefing” by Israeli law enforcement proving that Hamas was guilty of “torture, genital mutilation, butchery, leaving women to die after they’ve been raped and tortured, to die in a ditch.”
Relevant question: why do only some victims matter?
